Views from the Presidential Suite: Moab/Arches National Park and Dead Horse State Park

Moab, Utah is situated between two national parks, Arches and Canyonland. We are in the middle of red rock country. The mesas, canyons, slabs, balanced rocks and arches are all made from weathered and eroded sandstone. Sometimes the rocks are so red/brown that they look like artist's clay. The Colorado River carved a lot of this region over millions of years.

Yesterday we visited Arches National Park. Your car climbs red rock cliffs of different size and variation. There are a lot of hiking and biking trails, some of them short and easy. Even the dirt is red. It gets all over your car, your shoes, and your clothes. Around every corner you are amazed at the next sight, each one more beautiful than the next. I've taken hundreds of pictures and you could take one every 10 feet.

Today we drove along the Colorado river for @ 15 miles. The road continued, but we turned around because of imminent rainfall. Instead we went to Dead Horse State Park. This park rises 2000 feet above the Colorado and gives you amazing vistas of the River and the surrounding canyon. Just as we got to the point lookout it started to pour. In spite of the weather I took tons of photos and plan to return in a few days when the sun is shining to see the difference in the photos.

Dead Horse gets its name from a cowboy legend. According to the legend, the cowboys used to force the wild horses up onto the point and then form a natural corral by closing off the open end with sagebrush and trees. They selected the horses they wanted and left the remainder up on the cliff to die of hunger and thirst. Sort of a gruesome story for a beautiful spot.

We've been having some electrical problems with the RV. Slowly, some of the lights in the living room have been fading and extinguishing. We can't fix them by replacing the bulbs or fuses so tomorrow morning we have to take the RV to a dealer.